The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium has a long history of supporting graduate and undergraduate students in fields related to coastal and marine science. Our recent Staff Blogs focused on the K-12 and teacher education programs we support, but our Sea Grant program has been supporting college students even before it became the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium in 1972.
In 1971, the then-named Mississippi Sea Grant program supported six research projects with eight graduate students working on those projects, and thus began our history of supporting students and building the future workforce. Throughout the years, there have been many students who were supported through Sea Grant funding, which helps to pay project costs, stipends for student work, tuition costs and more.
Looking back at our records, I was able to identify well over 1,000 different students that we have supported. These students are identified with the following degree types:
- 210 undergraduates
- 336 master’s students
- 187 Ph.D. candidates
- 67 Juris Doctor students (law students)
The remaining 200+ students are a mix of high school students and post-docs, and some records are missing degree information.
Our records also show that since 2009, we have supported 66 students who ultimately obtained graduate degrees.
As I looked over the names of students in our records, several stand out as easily recognizable. Some have become officials at state or federal agencies. Some work at Sea Grant in various capacities. A couple students we have supported now have high-ranking administrative positions at MASGC member institutions. Many past students in our records are now faculty and have now received funding to support the next generation workforce. It is satisfying to know that we have helped start so many careers and further their important coastal science work.
In addition to our student support, we have been fortunate enough to have several successful federal fellows in our program. We have supported two National Marine Fisheries-Sea Grant fellows, who studied either marine resource economics or population and ecosystem dynamics. And since 1984, we have had 31 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellows, who spent a year working in Washington, D.C., on coastal resource and ocean policy issues with the executive or legislative branches of government.
As we celebrate our 50th year of research, communications, extension, education and legal programming, it is easy to see where our program has played a role – and continues to play a role – in creating a diverse and skilled workforce skilled in fields that affect our ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources. When you consider that there are 34 Sea Grant programs in the U.S., Guam and Puerto Rico, it’s even easier to see the Sea Grant network’s far-reaching impact on creating workforce leaders.
Meet the author
Loretta Leist
Research Coordinator
Loretta Leist coordinates Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant research grant competitions. She answers scientists' questions about grant opportunities, coordinates the proposal review process and... Read more
Phone: 228-818-8835
Email: [email protected]